HESI Medical-Surgical LPN/PN
Question 1
The nurse is providing care for a patient who is unhappy with the health care
provider’s care. The patient signs the Against Medical Advice (AMA) form and
leaves the hospital against medical advice. What should the nurse include in the
documentation of this event in the patient’s medical record or on the AMA
form?
- Documentation that the patient was informed that he or she cannot come
back to the hospital - Documentation that the patient was informed that he or she was leaving
against medical advice - Documentation that the risks of leaving against medical advice were
explained to the patient - Documentation of any discharge instructions given to the patient
- Documentation indicating an incident report has been completed
Correct Answer: 2,3,4
Rationale 1: It should be clearly documented that the patient was advised and
understands that he or she can come back.
Rationale 2: It should be clearly documented in the patient’s record and on the
AMA form that the patient was advised that he or she was leaving against
medical advice.
Rationale 3: It should be clearly documented that the patient understands the
risks of leaving against medical advice.
Rationale 4: The AMA form includes the name of the person accompanying the
patient and any discharge instructions given.
Rationale 5: Facility policy may require that an incident report be completed,
but it must not be referenced in the chart. The patient’s record is a legal
document, so the nurse should never document that he or she filed an incident
report.
Question 2
A nurse documents this statement in a patient’s medical record: “2/25/–, 2235.
At 2015 patient awoke suddenly and complained of shortness of air. Pulse
oximetry reading was 82% on room air and audible wheezes could be heard.”
This documentation meets which documentation guidelines?
- Documentation is timely
- Documentation is concise
- Documentation is objective
- Documentation includes date and time of entry
- Documentation is complete and accurate
Correct Answer: 2,3,4,5
Rationale 1: The nurse should document as soon as possible after an
observation is made or care is provided. The entry was made in the patient’s
medical record at least 2 hours after the patient complaint and should be
labeled late entry.
Rationale 2: This entry describes the situation fully but is concise.
Rationale 3: The nurse describes factual events that can be seen, heard, smelled,
or touched. It is important to be objective and avoid vague statements that are
subjective.
Rationale 4: Both the date and the time of the entry are documented.
Rationale 5: The nurse should document only facts: what he or she can see,
hear, and do.
Question 3
A nurse documents the following in a patient’s medical record: “2/1/__, 1500.
Patient appears weak and faint. Patient’s skin is moist and cool, vomited bright
red blood with clots. Health care provider notified and order received to give 2 u
of packed red blood cells if stat Hgb is < 8.0. Pain medication will be given.” This
documentation meets which documentation principle? - Document objectively.
- Do not document procedures in advance.
- Use approved abbreviations.
- Document changes in patient condition.
Correct Answer: 4
Rationale 1: Documentation should be objective and avoid vague statements
that are subjective. Only factual occurrences that can be seen, heard, smelled,
or touched should be described. The use of the word “appears” is subjective and
could be manipulated later should the treatment or judgment be challenged.
Rationale 2: The nurse has documented that pain medication will be given. This
is documenting in advance.
Rationale 3: The Joint Commission has designated the inappropriateness of “u”
as an abbreviation. “U” should be written out as “unit(s).” If unsure whether the
abbreviation is correct, the nurse should spell out the word; “<” can be
misinterpreted, so it should be spelled out as “less than.”
Rationale 4: In general, employers as well as state, federal, and professional
standards require documentation to include initial and ongoing assessments,
any change in the patient’s condition, therapies given and patient response,
patient teaching, and relevant statements by the patient.
Question 4
A nursing unit has changed its documentation system to documenting by
exception. How will this system save time? - It eliminates lengthy or repetitive documentation.
- It allows flexibility and description in the documentation.
- It allows the reader to easily locate information about a specific problem.
- It allows for quick and easy retrieval of information.
Correct Answer: 1
Rationale 1: Documenting by exception eliminates lengthy or repetitive
documentation.
Rationale 2: Flexible and descriptive documentation is an advantage of the
narrative system.
Rationale 3: PIE charting allows easy location of information about a specific
problem.
Rationale 4: The electronic health record allows for quick and easy retrieval of
information.
Question 5
A hospital is considering changing its documentation system to reduce the
number of medication errors. Which system should the hospital investigate?
- Problem, intervention, evaluation (PIE) system
- Electronic medical record
- Problem-oriented medical record
- Narrative system
Correct Answer: 2
Rationale 1: The PIE system consists of a list of the patient’s problems,
interventions taken to alleviate the problems, and evaluation of the patient’s
response to the interventions. This system does not have the specific benefit of
reducing medication errors.
Rationale 2: The electronic medical record decreases errors and allows for the
reconciliation of the patient’s medications on admission, daily, and on
discharge.
Rationale 3: The five components of the problem-oriented medical record are
baseline data, a problem list, a plan of care for each problem, multidisciplinary
progress notes, and a discharge summary. This system does not have the
specific benefit of reducing medication errors.
Rationale 4: Narrative documentation does not have the specific benefit of
reducing medication errors.
Question 6
Which nursing activities are examples of independent functions of the nursing
role? - Teaching a soon-to-be-discharged patient about the medication regimen that
the health care provider has prescribed - Talking with the patient about his or her abilities to manage personal hygiene
activities while in the usual state of health at home